Speakers

MORGO 2015: September 10 & 11, Waitangi
This year we’re back at the Copthorne Hotel, Bay of Islands. Morgo starts with a networking dinner on the Wednesday and officially ends at 4pm on the 11th. We have a mix of offshore and NZ speakers, case studies and interesting speakers.

We’ll update you with first speakers for MORGO 2015 soon …

MORGO 2014 Speakers:

Neville Spiteri is CoFounder/CEO of WemoLab, pioneering an immersive computing platform to unlock content creation on virtual reality devices. WemoLab’s first product, theBlu, is a virtual ocean experience in collaboration with the Smithsonian and the OceanElders. Neville is a computer scientist and creative executive credited on acclaimed multi-million dollar franchises in film and video games, including True Lies, Apollo13, Terminator 2/3D, Final Fantasy, and Medal of Honor.

Adrian Currieis SVP Corporate Development at The Priceline Group (Nasdaq: PCLN), the world’s leading Online Travel Agent. During over 12 years with the group his roles have included CFO Booking.com, Chairman Agoda.com, Director Rentalcars.com, MD APAC Booking.com and member of Group Management Board. He has a BSc from Manchester University and an MBA from London Business School. He has lived in Christchurch since 2008.

Rod Drury is CEO and founder of small business accounting software provider Xero which listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange in 2007 and Australian Stock Exchange in 2012. Rod is New Zealand Entrepreneur of the year for 2013 and was NZ Herald Business Leader of the Year in 2012. He is an Honorary Fellow of the New Zealand Computer Society, earned a World Class New Zealander award in 2008 and was New Zealand Hi-Tech Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006 and 2007. He also sits on the Victoria University Faculty of Commerce and Administration Advisory Board and a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors. Rod completed his BCA at Victoria in 1987.

Professor Sir Michael Brady is a serial medtech entrepreneur from the UK. He is currently Professor in Oncological Imaging in the Department of Oncology at the University of Oxford. He is co-Director of the Oxford Cancer Imaging Centre, one of four national cancer imaging centres in the UK. He was the Founder of MIT’s Robotics Laboratory and is the author of 10 books on topics including robotics, medical image analysis, and AI. He has received numerous prestigious awards and has a continuing strong commitment to science commercialisation and entrepreneurial activity.

Dr Anand Deshpande is the Founder, Chairman, and Managing Director of Persistent Systems. He is responsible for the overall leadership, strategy, and management of the company. A true technology visionary, Anand’s strengths lie in identifying and investing in next-generation technologies early on and encouraging internal entrepreneurship to ensure that Persistent stays at the forefront of technology innovation. Anand has been the driving force in growing Persistent from start-up to the publically-traded global company of today.

John Cromwellis the Managing Director of GrowthPoint Technology Partners. He focuses on software technologies, encompassing Internet, mobile, security, infrastructure and enterprise applications. Prior to co-founding GrowthPoint Technology Partners, John managed the Software and IT Services practice area at SVB Alliant, which he joined in 1996 as its first outside partner. Before Alliant, John was Managing Director of Bank of America’s high-technology group, where was responsible for directing the bank’s global high tech practice.

Dame Wendy Pye DNZM, MBE is the owner and Managing Director of the Wendy Pye Publishing Ltd, one of the world’s most successful educational export companies. In 2013 Wendy received the honour of the Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to business and education, which she adds to an MBE for services to export awarded in 1994. She was the first living woman admitted to the Fairfax Media NZ Business Hall of Fame. She has also been named as one of the 100 most outstanding Australian’s ever to leave Australia.

Hamish Kennedy is the Founder and Managing Director of Compac Sorting Equipment, a global leader in the development and supply of automated produce sorting and packing solutions. From the first sorter built in 1984 for the family kiwifruit orchard Compac has grown, to a global group of more than 400 staff, supplying to more than 40 countries. Compac was named Hi-Tech Exporter of the Year in 2010 and Hi-Tech Company of the Year in 2012. Hamish was named Engineering Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012 by IPENZ.

James Docking is Gentrack’s Chief Executive Officer. James has been with Gentrack for almost 19 years, having joined Gentrack in 1995 with the New Zealand energy sector in the midst of its market reforms. As an engineer with a background in the energy industry he was able to successfully guide Gentrack through these reforms and establish the platform from which Gentrack could launch itself internationally. James has an industrial background encompassing information technologies, electronics and power engineering.

Darrin Grafton is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of travel-booking software company Serko, which was listed on the NZX in June this year.Darrin has 25 years’ experience in the travel technology industry and is highly experienced in technology commercialisation. He previously held senior management positions with Gullivers Travel Group and Interactive Technologies. Darrin was awarded the NZX Hi-Tech Entrepreneur Award in 2007 and was a finalist for the NZ Hi-Tech Company Leader Award in 2007. In 2008 he was also a finalist for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Vaughan Rowsell is the Vend founder and CEO. Vaughan is a software engineer with more than 15 years experience. He’s a veteran of several start-ups, including Kiwi auction site Trade Me. Vaughan founded, coded, and then publicly launched Vend in late 2010. His obsession for cloud-based applications began as a mission to prove that functioning and successful POS can move entirely into the cloud and still meet the strict demands of business owners. Vaughan manages a talented team of more than 100 people in offices around the world – including Auckland, Melbourne, San Francisco, and Toronto.

Brian Russell VP Business Development Wireless Healthcare, Patient Monitoring at Covidien, Annapolis, USA. Over the past two decades Brian Russell has commercialized ground breaking technology products for Covidien (USA), Zephyr Technology Corporation (USA) , Nokia Telecommunications (Cambridge, England) and Analog Devices Inc (USA). Zephyr was acquired by Covidien in March 2014 for its global leadership in the area of wearable remote physiological monitoring solutions. Mr. Russell was the CEO and founder of Zephyr Technology since 2003 to its acquisition.

Geraldine McBride is the founder and CEO at MyWave and an acknowledged global expert in corporate evolution. Prior to this Geraldine held key roles in one of the world’s largest business software companies, SAP, by setting audacious goals and then exceeding them. She has been invited to address the World Economic Forum and the European Union and has appeared on the cover of Chief Executive Magazine as one of a dozen leaders who exemplify the vanguard that is forging the new global economy. MyWave is a mobile personal social cloud platform that makes the Web work for you in a personalised way. Its like an assistant, life coach and personal shopper in your pocket all the time.

Roger Dennisis the Founder of Sensing City – an initiative to install a carpet of sensors in the city of Christchurch as it is rebuilt following a series of devastating earthquakes. The aim of Sensing City is to measure everything about how a city works in real time, create the world’s largest living lab to help understand how cities actually function and fully leverage the $40b being spent in Christchurch to create a new industry for New Zealand.

Allen Chen is the Vice President of iResearch, China’s leading market research firm focusing on internet industry. iResearch’s data and reports have become China’s industry standard and were quoted by over 90% Chinese internet companies in their IPO documents as well as a number of famous financial, technology and investment institutes. iResearch’s in-depth research in China’s internet industry includes online media, e-commerce, online games, mobile internet and wireless value-added services, etc.

Tim Bennett was appointed CEO of NZX in May 2012. He has extensive capital markets and commodity market development experience in Asia, the Middle East and North America. Prior to joining NZX, Tim was a partner at Oliver Wyman in Singapore, and previously was a partner with the Boston Consulting Group in Asia and Australia. Tim holds an MBA in Strategy and Finance from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a B Comm in Computer Science and Business Administration from Victoria University of Wellington.

Workshop presenter: Fronde – Growing from Back to Front: Strategies to sustain a future-proof technology platform for rapid growth

James Valentine, Chief Technology Officer, Fronde is one of Australasia’s leading experts in cloud computing, specialising in complex cloud-centric solutions. He is a passionate advocate for the benefits that cloud computing offers. James joined Fronde in 2004 where he now holds an executive position leading Fronde’s technology vision to its customers and staff. He has architected and project managed numerous solutions across a range of technologies and platforms for various organisations. Previously James worked in the United Kingdom as a Development Manager and Technical Architect; and as a consultant for Accenture in Wellington. He has a Bachelor of Technology from Massey University in Manufacturing and Industrial Technology.

Workshop presenters: Baldwins – IP strategies for funding and growth

Wes Joneshas been a patent specialist with Baldwins since 2002. Wes works primarily in the areas of patents but also advises on copyright and design protection. He specialises in drafting patent specifications, providing validity and infringement advice, preparing license and other technology transfer agreements and advising on intellectual property portfolio management. Wes’ technical areas of expertise are in the electrical, electronics, communications and software fields. His studies as part of his engineering degree also involved courses in mechanical and structural engineering subjects.

David Alizade joined Baldwins in 2012 as Head of Commercial. He advises businesses and individuals on a broad range of commercial and corporate matters. Before joining Baldwins, David worked for large law firms in New Zealand and the UK. He also ran his own legal practice in the UK, working within organisations as a senior legal consultant, including managing the European legal teams of some global technology corporations.